Fires from transporting flammable goods have caused considerable human, financial, and environmental tragedies. Present day techniques of firefighting flammable liquids in a train derailment may be antiquated.
U.S. Pat. No. RE 26,020, Powell, is directed to protecting hydrocarbon containing tanks from fire, by encompassing a tank containing flammable liquids within a structure containing non-flammable liquids. U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,301, Golden, shows an automatic fire suppression system with heat and smoke sensors; applicability to railroad cars is described at column 11, lines 14-19.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,871, Sundholm, shows an installation for fighting fire in a (particular) space by optimizing spray head locations and angles. U.S. published application 20040163826, Spring, shows an inert gas supply for an automatic fire protection system. U.S. published application 20110155398, Holland et al., shows a fire extinguisher for a vehicle which can be activated by acceleration, speed, time, temperatures, fuel, fire, smoke, light, or the like. Applicability to railways is described at paragraph 11. U.S. published application 20120037383, Dirksmeier et al., shows a railroad fire protection fluid mist fed fire fighting device for fires between rail cars.
U.S. published application 20120267126, Volk et al., shows an automated fire fighting system for a railway vehicle, which dispenses fire suppressant at the interior of the vehicle (paragraph 4) connected to a computer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,718, Bertossi, teaches a fire suppression system responsive to collision sensors. U.S. Pat. No. 8,590,631, Sprakel et al., and U.S. published application 20040084193 (Tseng) teach an automated fire suppression system activated by collision or temperature.
None of the known prior art technologies can address a major accident involving rail cars carrying flammable or toxic materials.
Unfortunately, it typically takes a significant number of hours for firefighters to respond to a rail accident. Typically, the first responders do not know what the emergency situation entails, let alone have the materials and equipment in place to properly handle the situation. The first few minutes are usually critical when fighting fires involving large amounts of flammable substances. During this critical time the disaster may multiply exponentially and the fire may be considered out of control.
Responders may not wish to send their crew into a potentially high explosive situation due to the risk of the loss of life. The only option may be to “let it burn itself out”, leading to a potential disaster.